Column: Why Caleb Williams' selection is the coronation for the Chicago Bears' historic week

DETROIT - Caleb Williams is a Chicago Bear.

The card has been inked, his name announced and the commissioner has given him his jersey.

We've finally arrived. And not at a moment too soon.

I'll be the first to admit there has been too much use of the "unprecedented times" trope since the pandemic began in 2020. In this case, it's fair for the Bear to use the term.

This is a historic week in Bears history. During an offseason that split the fanbase with its decisions, only to bring them together with a new quarterback and a new multi-billion dollar stadium to hopefully put said quarterback in, the Bears, in an unprecedented time, have crowned their quarterback of the future in the 2024 NFL Draft.

That's why Thursday night will go beyond draft week. It’ll go beyond this year, too.

The Chicago Bears franchise has shown us their idea of what the future of the Chicago Bears will be. It's modern. It's a deviation from the past. It's a commitment to change the negatives which have plagued the Bears for years.

"This is not an easy project," Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren said on Wednesday. "But, Chicago doesn't like it easy. We like to do the difficult things. We like to do the things that resonate with generations to come." 

Warren said that about the Bears' new stadium on Wednesday. It could apply to the entire team rebuild for the last two years.

That rebuild is now taking a massive step forward with Williams.

For the first time in Chicago Bears' franchise history, the team has selected a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick. They’ve anointed Caleb Williams the next quarterback in a chapter of an unimpressive book of signal callers, hoping he’ll finally be the one to write the epic Chicago has yearned for.

If Williams delivers, he’ll be revered in Chicago history. But, the pressure is a little greater now.

He’s tabbed as the quarterback messiah the Bears have never had. He’s also being asked to do it as the team invests in a new lakefront stadium that modernizes the franchise.

What I said earlier about just a little pressure may have been facetious. But pressure doesn't faze Williams. He's faced it head on at Oklahoma, earning the starting nod from incumbent starter Spencer Rattler and successfully moved on to USC by winning the Heisman Trophy in 2022.

In a way, drafting Williams modernize the team. The Bears could have kept investing in Justin Fields and had an argument do that. Instead, the shine Williams' potential brings is too great to ignore. 

The Bears opted to reset the team’s window with an up-and-coming defense and a new-look offense. Instead, they chose to reinvent the offense and hire an experienced play caller who has had success integrating new quarterbacks into his offense.

"Just always know, if there's time on the clock and you got Caleb on your side, you got a chance," Gonzaga High School head football coach Randy Trivers told me in February. "Finish the game, alright, and believe that you can finish the game, whether that's the game of life, whether it's a game on the field, and believe that you can finish on top."

Bears fans have that hope now.

The hope that Williams can finally upend a century of quarterback futility and irrelevance in Chicago exists. There's hope the Bears will never have to ask a Nathan Peterman, Johnathan Quinn or Henry Burris to start another game under center in Chicago for the next decade. Just that idea is enough to crash a wave of relief over those who know. And if you know, you really, really know how bad those days were.

That hope is not misplaced either, especially since that hope has only blossomed in the months since it became apparent the Bears are going to draft their next quarterback at No. 1 overall.

Now, fans can imagine Williams as the face of a franchise that will brandish a brand-new lakefront stadium in five years.

"This is going to reinvigorate the entire city of Chicago," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said of the Bears new stadium. "It's going to be the Crown Jewel of Chicago."

Bears fans don't have to pinch themselves. This is all actually happening.

This all exists because everything has led to this for the Bears, too.

They’ve put themselves in a position to turn the corner, develop a truly elite quarterback prospect and follow through on Poles to take the NFC North and never give it back.

Some of it wasn't the Bears doing. They had some luck:

TOUCHDOWN: Jordan Akins 28 Yard pass from Davis Mills (Davis Mills Pass to Jordan Akins for the Two-Point Conversion) - FINAL: Texans 32, Colts 31

Some of it was thanks to the gambit of other franchises:

TRADE: The Bears send No. 1 selection in the 2023 draft to Carolina. The Panthers send receiver DJ Moore, 2023 first- and second-round picks, a 2024 first-round choice and a 2025 second-round pick to Chicago.

And some was a mixture of both, as luck would have it the aforementioned gambit of others worked in the Bears' favor.

FINAL: Jaguars 26, Panthers 0: Carolina clinches the worst record in the NFL, sending the No. 1 overall pick to the Bears.

That No. 1 overall pick is in: Caleb Williams, the best quarterback prospect in since 2021.

It's okay to be hopeful, Chicago. It's okay to be excited, Bears fans. It's okay to imagine what those massive wins could look and feel like.

That's what draft day is about. It's about the hope of it all.

The Chicago Bears have never had a day like Thursday. They've never had a week like this week.

It's only fitting the week's highest point, and possibly the highest point in franchise history to date, comes with rectifying the quarterback position. 

What could top this? Championships, to be clear, something Williams has said he has a driving hunger to deliver.

If he delivers, Thursday will be a hallowed day in the minds of Bears fans and in the eyes of the National Football League for years to come.

It's why we live for the hope of it all.

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